And yet the command of Scripture is for us to be persevering in prayer. Perseverance means we do not give up when we do not see the result we want – but we faithfully continue to wait on the Lord. This is one of the aspects of prayer that I find most difficult. We are to pray with “all perseverance.” Jesus told the parable of the widow who kept pestering the hardhearted judge, until finally he relented just to get her off his back. Jesus assures us that God is not uncaring like that unrighteous judge, but He will bring about justice speedily for His elect who cry out to Him.
Join us as we conclude our study into spiritual warfare and the armor of God as we look at prayer in light of the spiritual battle. May our time in Ephesian 6 bless you and enable you to stand in these evil days.

Ephesians 6:18-20
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

I confess that prayer is one of the most difficult topics for me to preach about because it is difficult for me to understand and practice. On one hand, I know the only reason God has enabled me to persevere as a pastor is His grace that has come to me through the prayers of His people and through my own desperate cries to Him for help. Not a week goes by without my feeling overwhelmingly inadequate for this ministry. I could not endure without prayer. Yet on the other hand, the longer I am a Christian, the more acutely I am aware of my own shortcomings in prayer.

The Christian life is not about making ourselves happy and comfortable yet it is often the theme of most of our prayer time. I often wonder if the angels know what I will ask based on the first three words because the Christian life is a battle with the unseen forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. To stand with God against this evil enemy, we must be people of prayer, not just with a blessing over a meal or uttered as a matter of last resort, but to have a prayer for every season of our lives.

And yet the command of Scripture is for us to be persevering in prayer. Perseverance means we do not give up when we do not see the result we want – but we faithfully continue to wait on the Lord. This is one of the aspects of prayer that I find most difficult. We are to pray with “all perseverance.” Jesus told the parable of the widow who kept pestering the hardhearted judge, until finally he relented just to get her off his back. Jesus assures us that God is not uncaring like that unrighteous judge, but He will bring about justice speedily for His elect who cry out to Him.

And yet, Paul’s word about perseverance as well as our experience, shows that Jesus’s promise of God answering speedily must be interpreted by God’s view of time, not ours. I can’t give you a rule for when to go on praying and when to conclude that God isn’t going to answer. I have prayed for one request for many years now that has not been answered. So, I modified the request and keep praying. I have scratched some people off my prayer list after years of praying with no visible results. If God brings them to mind, I’ll pray, but I don’t pray for them regularly anymore. But when I do stop praying for someone, it is not because I doubt God’s ability to answer. Rather, after years of praying, it just seems that God is not going to answer me personally and so I leave it with Him and His sovereign will.

The Word of God is the Spirit’s weapon to sustain us in these last days. It was the weapon used by our Lord during the temptation in the Wilderness and it is what the Holy Spirit will call to mind as we are brought before those who will accuse us. But how well do we know the Word and how familiar are we with its use? Join us this week as we continue in our study of the weapons of our spiritual warfare and examine “The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God”.

Ephesians 6:17“And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Have you ever been asked how you have confidence that the Bible you have in your hands is accurate to the original texts when the originals no longer exist for comparison? Even biblical scholars agree there are more variations in the existing copies than words in the New Testament, so how confident can we be? Has the Bible changed in 2,000 years of copying and recopying the original texts? There may be variations but we can have confidence in the Bible we hold because of how the original texts are reconstructed to determine the original.

Pretend your Aunt Jane learns in a dream about a magic elixir that preserves youth. She jumped out of bed and immediately wrote down the recipe word for word and then dashed off to the kitchen to mix up a batch of “Jane’s Juvenile Juice.” Within days she was the picture of vibrant youth. Aunt Jane was so excited she wrote down three copies word for word and handed them to her bridge partners at Game Night. They in turn, at seeing the remarkable results, made 10 copies each and shared them with their friends. All was glorious until the day Aunt Jane’s cat ate the original recipe. In a panic, she calls her bridge partners only to hear the terrible news that all three friends lost their original copies of “Jane’s Juvenile Juice” on the same night. How will Aunt Jane recover the original recipe or is it lost for all time and eternity?

May it never be! Aunt Jane would recover as many of the remaining second generation copies as she could and reconstruct the original recipe. Let’s assume she recovered 24 out of the 30 second generation copies and spread them out on the kitchen table. The first thing that would jump out would be all the variations that can be seen in the copies. But after closer examination, she finds that 19 of the 24 copies are virtually the same, except for minor misspellings and abbreviations for some of the measurements (qt. instead of quart). Of the five remaining copies, three list the same ingredients but in different order, one has operations inverted when compared to the other copies (chop then mix instead of mix then chop) and one has one ingredient that none of the other recipes contain.

Do you think Aunt Jane can reconstruct her original recipe with this evidence? Of course she can. Misspellings and abbreviations are variations, but not changes in the recipe. The inverted operation is easily corrected (you can’t mix something that has not been chopped) and the one recipe with a brand new ingredient can be eliminated because it is far more likely that 1 person added an ingredient than 23 people omitted the same ingredient. Given the number of copies and a little common sense, the original can easily be reconstructed. This very simple example demonstrates how scholars do textual criticism and how it was done for all writings of antiquity including Scripture. Given the current count of more than 5,500 copies of Scripture from before 900 AD including 24 complete copies of the New Testament and portions of books (such as the first 7 chapters of John from a scroll written in 200 AD or a fragment containing John 18:31-33 dated to 117 AD – only 40 years from original composition) we have extreme confidence we are holding the inspired Word of God upon which orthodox Christianity is based.

You do not need to look long nor far too quickly see man’s present condition in sin and the devastating results of our fallen condition. It is a condition against which mankind is completely helpless and there is no personal resource we can bring to correct our deficit. In spite of the world’s expectation of a “new society” where we can bring about peace and prosperity, the entire globe remains shattered by the ravages of sin locally, nationally and internationally. However, the Bible speaks of God’s gracious plan to provide a solution to man’s problem- salvation.
Join us this Sunday as we continue in our study of spiritual warfare and the armor of God and find the personal application you need to stand in these last days. This Sunday we examine “The Armor of the Helmet of Salvation”. Join us at 8:45 for worship from the heart and teaching from the Word.

Ephesians 6:14-17
“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

You do not need to look long nor far too quickly see man’s present condition in sin and the devastating results of our fallen condition. It is a condition against which mankind is completely helpless and there is no personal resource we can bring to correct our deficit. In spite of the world’s expectation of a “new society” where we can bring about peace and prosperity, the entire globe remains shattered by the ravages of sin locally, nationally and internationally. However, the Bible speaks of God’s gracious plan to provide a solution to man’s problem: salvation.

Salvation is the greatest theme in the Scriptures. It covers all of time from eternity past to eternity future. It relates personally to every single human being who has ever existed, without exception. It not only affects humans, but the entire creation and also has ramifications for the angelic host who look upon earth. It is the theme of both the Old and New Testament. It is personal, national and cosmic and it centers on the greatest Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The term salvation encompasses the entire work of God by which He seeks to rescue man from the cost and the consequence of sin and bestowing upon him the wealth of His grace which includes the provision for abundant life now and eternal glory forever.

In all other religions around the world, salvation is a work done by man for God. This is what makes biblical Christianity different from all the religions of the world. From a biblical understanding we learn that salvation is of the Lord; it is the work of God for man and Christ’s shout of victory affirmed this truth. The fact that Jesus Christ died does not in itself save men, but it does provide the one and only sufficient ground upon which God in full harmony with His perfect holiness is free to save the vilest of sinners, including you and me. This is the good news of the gospel and our privilege to proclaim to the world.

Salvation is the deliverance, safety, soundness, restoration and healing of God graced to His creation by faith. In theological terms, salvation is the major doctrine of the Bible which includes redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, repentance, faith, justification, sanctification and glorification. It is the ultimate question of man and the greatest gift that can be given. The salvation we celebrate this morning is the work of God rescuing man from his lost position. But what is more is salvation is also the description of someone who has been saved and has become vitally renewed and made a partaker of the inheritance of the saints.

Faith is a gift from God. And like so many other gifts of God, we have a responsibility to appropriate it and grow in it. So how do we grow in faith? The key is to grow in the object of our faith, namely Jesus Christ. Faith is only as good as its object. You can have the strongest faith in a rickety bridge and have it collapse under your weight in spite of your strong faith. Or you can have a weak faith in a strong bridge and it will hold you up along with a semi truck that rumbles along beside you. The right way to have a strong faith is to know the engineer who built the bridge. You knowledge of the bridge and its builder would increase your faith in the bridges ability to hold you up, even though it may go over a frightening chasm below. The bridge, not your faith in the bridge, gets the glory.
Join us this week as we see why the shield of faith is the ultimate weapon in the armor of God. And may our Father increase our faith for the glory of His Son.

Ephesians 6:14-17
“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

In 1947, a rumor spread that the Ford Motor Company would give a new Ford in exchange for every copper penny dated 1943. The rumor spread like wildfire, even without the internet or email, and Ford was flooded with requests for information about this incredible giveaway. But as you might expect, it turned out to be nothing more than a hoax. The U.S. Mint confirmed that in 1943 they minted over one billion pennies out of a combination of zinc and steel due to the need for copper in World War II, but none were minted out of copper.

There has been another rumor going through out the human race for centuries that people can go to heaven based on their good works. But that too is a hoax. The fact is there are no works made on earth that are acceptable in heaven because all of our works are tainted by sin. The only righteousness that will gain entrance into heaven is the work of Jesus Christ, graciously given to sinners who come to Him by faith. Our eternal destiny depends on our understanding that we are justified not on the basis of our moral behavior, but by faith in God who credits righteousness to people apart from their works.

Faith is a gift from God. And like so many other gifts of God, we have a responsibility to appropriate it and grow in it. So how do we grow in faith? The key is to grow in the object of our faith, namely Jesus Christ. Faith is only as good as its object. You can have the strongest faith in a rickety bridge and have it collapse under your weight in spite of your strong faith. Or you can have a weak faith in a strong bridge and it will hold you up along with a semi truck that rumbles along beside you. The right way to have a strong faith is to know the engineer who built the bridge. Your knowledge of the bridge and its builder would increase your faith in the bridge’s ability to hold you up, even though it may span a frightening chasm below. The bridge, not your faith in the bridge, gets the glory.

We need to put our faith in action. As we act in faith and see God’s work, our faith is strengthened to trust Him the next time we are at a crossroad. We need to be careful not to misapply His promises. John the Baptist in prison was confused because he thought that if he were the Messiah’s forerunner, and Jesus was the Messiah, then he should not be in prison. Jesus assured John (Matthew 11:2-11) that He was the Messiah. But that assurance did not mean John got out of prison alive. Even if God’s will is our earthly death, we can glorify Him by dying in faith as we look to His promise of eternal life.

From my experience, I do not think that Christians experience the full peace of God and as a result we are vulnerable to the attack of Satan. As I look around I see so many who live in fear and anxiety. Parents who are anxious about their children, families who are anxious about their finances, and churches anxious about their programs and facilities- anxiety appears to be a staple of day to day life. We speak on Sunday about the sovereignty of God but our anxiety about the day to day tasks of our lives often conflict with the tenants of our faith and the character of God.
Join us this Sunday as we examine the spiritual armor of the gospel shoes of peace as we continue in our study of Ephesians 6 and the armor of God.

Ephesians 6:14-15
“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE…”

From my experience, I do not think that Christians experience the full peace of God and as a result we are vulnerable to the attack of Satan. As I look around I see so many who live in fear and anxiety. To parents anxious about their children, families anxious about their finances, and churches anxious about their programs and facilities – anxiety appears to be a staple of day-to-day life. We speak on Sunday about the sovereignty of God but our anxiety about the daily tasks of our lives often conflict with the tenets of our faith and the character of God.

Peace is something God has accomplished in Jesus Christ but it is something the Christian must pursue. The question we must be answer is how does the Christian pursue peace? Our pursuit of peace must begin at the cross and cause us to return to the cross continually to consider its ramifications in our life. We must make peace a priority and a guiding principle that governs our conduct. We must focus on the character of God and His sovereign plans and purposes. We must recognize He gives us peace in the midst of adversity and suffering. We obtain peace the same way we obtain all of God’s gracious gifts to us: as gifts of grace by faith.

True peace comes from delighting in God. He is our salvation and our security and peace is the result of rejoicing and resting in Him. Peace is the fruit of pursuing unity and harmony while graciously enduring the weakness and faults of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We find peace through prayer as we petition Him to meet our every need and then trust Him to do so. Peace comes when we refuse to allow our hearts and minds to entertain thoughts which fall short of truth and righteousness. Peace comes when we put into practice what we know to be true and have pondered in our hearts.

Peace comes from God and God alone. Peace comes through Jesus Christ who made peace between God and man. He is the One who gives us true peace and enables us to stand in the midst of Satan’s schemes. Inner feelings of peace are not proof that we are in the right, but being in the right is the basis for peace. May we all find peace in Him by trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. For it is by His righteousness that we have fellowship with God and each other.

Satan is the great hypocrite. He is the advocate of unrighteousness incarnate and when we have failed to live the righteous standard for which we have been called is the first to accuse us before God. Day and night he accuses men before God, but not just any men- the saints themselves. How is it that the prince of unrighteousness can accuse the righteous before God, day and night? The Scriptures make clear the assault of Satan is not only against the righteous (saints) but attacking righteousness. That is why the breastplate of righteousness is so essential to the Christians armor.
Join us as we continue our study of spiritual warfare and the armor God has given to every believer. This week we examine “Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of Righteousness”.

Ephesians 6:13-41“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS …”

Satan is the great hypocrite. He is the advocate of unrighteousness incarnate and when we have failed to live up to the righteous standard for which we have been called, Satan is the first to accuse us before God. Day and night he accuses men before God, but not just any men – the saints themselves. How is it that the prince of unrighteousness can accuse the righteous before God, day and night? The Scriptures make clear the assault of Satan is not only against the righteous (saints) but is also attacking righteousness. That is why the breastplate of righteousness is so essential to the Christian’s armor.

When we sin, Satan is quick to accuse us because that is his nature. Our defense against such accusation is found in the breastplate of righteousness. It is in Christ’s righteousness that we stand. In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, little Christian meets Satan shortly after receiving his armor. In the enemy’s attack on Christian, Satan hurls his accusations reminding Christian of his failures to live up to his name. He reminds him of his wickedness, how he fell into the Slough of Despond and how he left his roll behind him when he rested too long. Bunyan understood how well Satan attacks the Christian. It is our sins that condemn us and it is Christ’s righteousness that saves us. Even when the evil one accuses us, it is only the imputed righteousness we have in Jesus Christ that allows us to stand.

Satan looks for points of weakness where he can capitalize. The devil recognized the attitude of Peter regarding suffering and prompted him to rebuke the Lord Jesus and try to turn Him from the way of the cross. Satan recognized David’s pride and led him to count the number of the Israelites that were his to command. He took advantage of Judas’s greed and frustration to gain power to control his life as an unbeliever. And the adversary recognized the tainted motivation of Ananias and Sapphira that filled their hearts so as to lie to the Holy Spirit. From the most righteous to the wicked, we all are attacked at our weakest point.

Our enemy watches for any sign of weakness and then capitalizes on it. To give into sin through the weaknesses of the flesh is to give Satan an inroad into our spiritual lives. While sin causes a gap in our armor, Righteousness provides no openings for Satan, no handles for him to get a grip on our lives to pull us back. Righteousness is a part of our defense because the best defense is a good offense. By the filling of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to press forward in righteousness against the unrighteous charges of the evil one.

Jesus Christ is the truth. When we turn away from the truth we are turning away from Him. As important as the other garments are, the foundation of all of them is truth because that is who Jesus Christ is. He is the way, the truth and the life. Being rooted in Him is what prevents us from being taken captive by philosophy or empty deception. He is also what we are to grow into, with Christ being head over all. The world is constantly changing, declaring new fads and fictions to be the truth because someone wrote a book or spoke at a conference. We do not live in such a shifting landscape as so many do in this generation. We live completely secure in the bedrock foundation of Christ’s truth. Join us this week as we continue our series on Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God as we look at “Girding Our Loins with Truth”.

We all dress in a certain order. We begin with our ‘foundation garments” because other garment will be layered over them. Usually we finish with putting on our shoes, because putting our pants on after our shoes proves to be very difficult. The armor of God is to be put on in a certain order as well, and the first step is to gird our loins as we prepare for spiritual battle. In the Bible, the girding of the loins is the first step but it also prepares us for further action. As Peter wrote, we are to “gird our minds for action” as we act like the One who called us (1 Peter1:13-16).

Truth is the grid through which all information can be filtered. It gathers up the loose ends of information and processes and conforms it all to legitimacy and goodness. James reinforces the importance of truth in our salvation when he wrote in James 1:18 “He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” It is by the truth that we are sanctified and brought to maturity in Christ. The question we must be able to answer then is how do we arrive at truth? Is it based upon our experience, the rules of society or even the laws of government? Or does truth come from a different source altogether? The line we use to measure truth is the question that must be answered before we can rightly chart a course for our decision-making.

Christ prayed for His disciples in the upper room in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Any decision we make on what is good or right for a situation or response must be seen through the grid of Scripture. The human response is to measure good or bad by how it benefits us. But the Word of God calls for us to die to ourselves and our interests, to subject ourselves to the government and to love others as we have been loved by God. The truth is the basis for Christian unity that builds up and edifies the church. This is completely opposite to the world’s way of thinking and is only learned through the truth of Scripture.

Jesus Christ is the truth. When we turn away from the truth we are turning away from Him. As important as the other garments are, the foundation of all of them is truth because that is who Jesus Christ is. He is the way, the truth and the life. Being rooted in Him is what prevents us from being taken captive by philosophy or empty deception. He is also what we are to grow into, with Christ being head over all. The world is constantly changing, declaring new fads and fictions to be the truth because someone wrote a book or spoke at a conference. We do not live in such a shifting landscape as so many do in this generation. We live completely secure in the bedrock foundation of Christ’s truth.

Ephesians 6:13
“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

Misconceptions in warfare can have devastating effects. Each person in a military unit is trained for specific tasks and functions; many seemingly unrelated to the task at hand, but when put together, they operate with precision and effectiveness. The Lord has designed His Church to operate in such a manner. Just as “He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12) and has also gifted each in the Church to function seamlessly together for a unique purpose; we have also been equipped with the full armor of God to stand firm.

When we hear the term “spiritual warfare,” we assume it is about going on the offensive, not standing firm in defense. Those who want to take the attack to the enemy do not understand Satan’s power or God’s plan. It is not we who will defeat Satan, but our Lord Jesus Christ. Our duty is to resist Satan in this evil day, not remove him. I know in many churches songs are sung about running Satan out of town on rail, but the Bible does not speak of spiritual warfare in these terms. However, the Scriptures have much to say about our standing fast in face of the schemes and attacks of our enemy until our Lord returns.

We are to stand — in essence remain still — because God is the One who wins the battle. In the Book of Revelation the saints who are the “overcomers” do defeat Satan’s plan by our spiritual might. In fact, the many of them will lose their lives at his hands. Satan’s final defeat will not come from the hands of the saints, but from the hand of the Lord as we are told in Revelation 20:9-10 “And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” In spiritual warfare the battle is the Lord’s and the command of our Father is to stand still and watch Him win the victory.

The Christian’s defenses are directly tied to the gospel. They are truth, righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the word of God. Our deliverance from Satan’s power and our defense from his attacks are found in Jesus Christ and Him alone. In the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord we will find the power for our defense and the reality of our deliverance.

Paul concludes the Book of Ephesians with the clearest definition of the spiritual war that we find in Scripture. Most assuredly there is a spiritual battle to be fought and without utilizing the weapons God has provided, we will find we are hopelessly underpowered. Our study into this topic over the next few weeks will inform us on what those weapons are and why they are so essential to the battle we fight. These are weapons designed by our Heavenly Father which best repel the attacks of Satan. Join us this week as we begin a new series on Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God.

Ephesians 6:11-12Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Paul concludes the Book of Ephesians with the clearest definition of spiritual war that we find in Scripture. Most assuredly there is a spiritual battle to be fought and without using the weapons God has provided, we will find we are hopelessly under-powered. Our study into this topic over the next few weeks will inform us on what those weapons are and why they are so essential to the battle we fight. These are weapons designed by our Heavenly Father which best repel the attacks of Satan.

Many come to faith in Christ without ever realizing they have now stepped into a battlefield. We are told of entering into every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3) but we hear very little about the commencement of a great struggle against Satan and his forces. With few exceptions, our enemies are invisible to the human eye, but are very real indeed. They take on many names: rulers, powers, world forces of this darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. I doubt we can fully understand the variety and number of forces which oppose us and if we did, many might lose heart. But the armor we have been given has been designed to prevent us from being devoured and for our stand against these assaults.

It is true that the days we live in are evil and we must be careful how we walk in this world if are to make the most of the days God has given to us. But we know from Scripture that for as bad as things seem today, they will get worse. Man continually hopes that things will get better, and that is reflected by many in the Church who falsely assume that Christ will return when we have prepared the world for Him by our good deeds. The Bible is very clear in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and Revelation Chapters 12 and 20 that satanic opposition will only increase until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the final destruction of Satan and his hosts. This will require the Christian to be a vigilant warrior, prepared for the schemes of the enemy in order to stand in these, the final days of confrontation.

I am excited you are here to join us in this new study of spiritual warfare and the armor of God. This will not be a study about taking the war to enemy, for that is Christ’s job. Our task is defensive, not offensive. It is our duty to resist the devil, not remove him. From the Scripture, my prayer for us in this study is that we will stand because God is the One who wins the battle. Satan’s ultimate defeat is not at the hand of the saints, but from the hand of God. May we learn the victory is the Lord’s and our part is to put on the full armor of God and stand!